Progression Electric added just another piece to the puzzle at the intersection of Kentucky Street and Race streets (Hwys. 50 and 70) with the addition of a new traffic light system. For now, work on repaving, traffic signals and the addition of a turning lane has made the intersection more congested than normal. Eventually, however, state highway officials hope the improvements will ease traffic bottlenecks. The problems are especially apparent on weekday afternoons, when work and school lets out.

Hoke Culbertson of Kingston was on the U.S. Navy’s U.S.S. O’Brien with Capt. W.W. Outerbridge.
Outerbridge was commander of U.S.S. Ward, which fired the first shot in the Pacific of World War II.
Later, Culbertson was on the O’Brien when the men were forced to sink the damaged Ward during the Leyte operation, Ormoc Bay landing in 1944.
“Ormoc Bay is where we sunk the Ward,” Culbertson said. “We scuttled it. It was hit by kamikaze.”

Rockwood’s Jake Jackson traveled across Europe in the U.S. Army during World War II.
He’s seen a lot, including a group of weary travelers walking a road toward a nearby town.
He said it looked like they were wearing and holding everything they owned.
Certain they were victims of a concentration camp, their image sticks with Jackson to this day.
“To me, it looked like skin was just stretched over some bones,” he said.
“They were the most pathetic group of people I ever seen.”

From staff reports
A Rockwood mother was arrested last week on public intoxiation and child endangerment charges after a 911 caller claimed to see her repeatedly drop her toddler at Roane County Park.
Leigh Ann Barnett, 31, of 133 Teague Road, was taken into custody on Sept. 22 at the park’s splash pad.
Roane County Sheriff’s Deputy Stan Hohulin reported that he found Barnett sitting on the concrete, trying to reach her 15-month-old son.

Harriman Middle School will be getting a visit from Tennessee Department of Education officials this year because of the school’s improvements in seventh-grade language arts.
The school did extremely well this year in its Tennessee Value Added Assessment System scores.
“Harriman Middle School finished the top 10 in the state last year in their growth (overall),” said Roane County Schools Director Gary Aytes.
The report assesses the schools in both achievement and value added.